If there’s one homebrew app that’s been incredibly popular from the start, it’s been Music Player (Remix). What started as an enhancement of the built-in webOS Music app, Remix has evolved to version 2.0 with a completely new UI, awesome utilization of dashboard controls, and more.
See everything that’s new, including a video, after the break!
The Option Key currently comes in two forms: Orange or Silver, depending on if you are on the original Pre or any other webOS device. Regardless of the color, that single keyboard key is quite versatile, allowing you to do quite a number of different thing throughout the operating system. In this week’s Tip Roundup, we explore some of the many uses you will find for this Option Key. Keep reading after the break to reexamine all those uses
While rearranging your launcher icons to put your most often used icons on the Quick Launch Bar is a great way to ensure that you are only a swipe up away from accessing those apps, there is actually an even faster method to access these icons: the Quick Launch wave. Instead of just swiping up from the gesture area, if you drag up and keep your finger pressed against the screen, a wave will appear with your Quick Launch icons. Simply slide your finger to the right or left to find the app you want (the name of the app will appear above the icon) and lift your finger to open that app. While this doesn’t exactly save a lot of time as compared to a simple swipe up, it does allow you to do things like accessing the full Launcher, opening a new web browser, or accessing your calendar all without leaving your currently open app (depending, of course, on what icons you have on your Quick Launch Bar
Note: The wave does not work if you are in a PDK app, just standard SDK (and we assume the future hybrid) apps.
Pressing the center button/LCD or swiping up from the Gesture Area will bring you to Card View, where you are able to perform a variety of actions to access data on your phone or manage your open applications. Of course, you can open up the launcher by tapping on the 
icon in the Quick Launcher Bar or by swiping up again, or you can just start typing to access universal search to find contacts, applications or more. You can also see all your open applications, swipe to the right/left to find whichever one you want, and then tap that application to maximize it. But, there is more that you can do with those cards, as well. Keep reading after the break for some other actions that you can perform while in card view.
Developers and users alike have all noticed this “Default Apps” option in the webOS launcher. Right now the only out-of-the-box option users are presented with is a choice of Google Maps or their carrier’s navigation solution (if applicable) for the default mapping software. But below the defaults for web, email, and phone, there’s a long list of file types and the default app used to open them (PDFs opened by PDF View, .WAV opened by Music, and so forth).
When the Default Apps scene appeared back in November with webOS 1.3.1, and was enabled with 1.3.5 a month later, we were all aflutter as to what that could mean for webOS. Pick your own third party dialer app (Google Voice), web browser, and more? That’d be grand. Sadly, Palm has yet to release an API for developers to set their app as an option for default apps, but that hasn’t stopped Jason Robitaille and Rod Whitby from hacking their way onto the Default Apps screen.
The addition of service calls registers an app with the Default Apps service, selecting the app as the default when no other apps present open that file type, and setting it as an option when there are already apps that open said file. For example, Robitaille’s Internalz app is registered as the default app for more than twenty different file types, and appears as an option for .TXT, with Doc View as the other and default choice. Tap on the file type, select the new apps, back swipe, and you’re good to go.
Jason does note that it’s not entirely stable (thus Palm not publishing the API), and that some not-all-that clean "mimetype" registering to get Internalz to be an option for file types already defaulted by another app (e.g. a PDF viewer app would have to masquerade as PDF View to trick Default Apps into giving it the option).
Of course, it’s worth noting that because Palm has not released the APIs to performing these service calls, any app submitted (be it to the App Catalog, beta, or web distribution feeds) will be automatically and summarily rejected. But that’s not to stop developers from wishing, hoping, dreaming, and preparing. And releasing via homebrew… nudge nudge, wink wink.
Source: MetaViewSoft
Ever wanted to uninstall an application or remove an icon from your launcher, but can’t find the delete button? The easiest way to delete any icon on your launcher is to hold down the Option (Orange/Silver) key and tap an icon, and you will get a pop-up with an option to "Delete" or "Remove". Another option to delete an application is to pull down the Launcher Application menu (swipe down from the top left while in the launcher) and select “List All Applications.” You will be presented with a listing of all your installed applications, and all you need to do is just tap on an application to get the same pop-up with the Delete option.
NOTE: Only use the method above to delete those applications installed from the official Palm App Catalog. If you have installed any Homebrew Apps with webOS Quick Install or Preware, you should use those same methods to uninstall those Apps.
Universal search is an extremely powerful tool within webOS that allows you to access all kinds of data on your phone within a matter of seconds and from anywhere on your device. To access Universal Search, all you need to do is start typing on the keyboard while in the Launcher or while in Card View (to access card view while in an App, simply swipe up from the gesture area to minimize that app). In addition to Contacts and Applications searches, webOS can also do a variety of extended searches in the web or maps. Continue reading after the break to learn the specifics of these extended searches
Universal search is an extremely powerful tool within webOS that allows you to access all kinds of data on your phone within a matter of seconds and from anywhere on your device. To access Universal Search, all you need to do is start typing on the keyboard while in the Launcher or while in Card View (to access card view while in an App, simply swipe up from the gesture area to minimize that app). In addition to Contact Search, webOS will also search for all of your installed applications on the phone, no matter where the icon is throughout the launcher. Continue reading after the break to learn the specifics of how to search for applications using Universal Search
Performing a Swipe Up from the gesture area or pressing the Center Button (for Pre) / Center LCD (for Pre Plus, Pixi or Pixi Plus) will perform different actions, depending on where you are in webOS:
There are only a few spots available in the Quick Launch Bar on your webOS phone and, honestly, you really can get by quite well by taking the phone icon off. It was one of the first things I moved into the main launcher (see How to Move Icons on Launcher and Quick Bar). When I ask people why they still had the phone icon there, they usually answer “How else do you dial a phone number?” Keep reading after the break to find out!